Did Beckham deserve a red card against Sounders?

Seattle Sounders FC came out wearing new blue jerseys on Saturday night in Los Angeles, but the color of the day turned out to be red after Galaxy star David Beckham was ejected just 16 minutes into the match.

David Beckham (right) receives a red card from the referee Ricardo Salazar as Sounders midfielder Peter Vagenas lies on the ground following a hard tackle by Beckham Saturday night. (Getty Images/Jeff Gross)

L.A. coach Bruce Arena didn’t exactly defend his player, saying it was a dangerous play when Beckham went into Sounders midfielder Peter Vagenas with his spikes up.

Beckham said it was a hard tackle, but not malicious, and noted that Vagenas is a good friend and former teammate of his with the Galaxy. Vagenas said he didn’t think there was any ill intent on Beckham’s part.

I’m not in favor of referees protecting star players as much as they do in the NBA, but I do believe fans pay money to see the best athletes perform and it’s silly to eject any players for borderline misdeeds.

Sounders star Freddie Ljungberg was already out with an illness and L.A.’s Landon Donovan only played the second half as he’s recovering from a bout with swine flu. The chance to see Beckham thus was the major draw, but fans in Los Angeles missed a chance not only to see him much Saturday, but the next game as well.

Seems to me a yellow would have sufficed here, but I’m willing to hear arguments from soccer fans. And what about the ensuing yellow card ejection of Seattle defender Tyrone Marshall? I thought that was completely uncalled for and you can watch that in the video package above as well.

What do you think, soccer fans? Were there too many cards and ejections in Saturday’s 2-0 victory by Seattle, which ended with the Galaxy playing with nine players and Seattle 10?

And while we’re at it, what did you think of the blue jerseys instead of the rave green?